Samurai Princess
by sakura-clover
Summary: In mythological ancient Japan, Sakura Kinomoto yearns to be free. So she runs away to become a Samurai but is sent to a small village in China where there lives a certain amber-eyed boy......
1. Chapter 1 Caged Bird

Samurai Princess  
  
  
Chapter 1- Caged Bird  
  
  
It was a hot day in spring, the sun beat down on the house, all the blinds had been opened and nearly everybody had a fan in their hands.  
Sakura Kinomoto was lying on her friend. Tomoyo Daidouji's lap while her hair was being combed. Sakura was of 18 years with dazzling emerald eyes and long brown hair that reached down to her feet, she was wearing a burnt-red kimono and was casually flapping her fan around her and Tomoyo.   
Tomoyo was the opposite of Sakura in her looks. She had even longer, soft purple hair that went about an inch past her feet, her eyes were a soft purple and her skin was paler. She carefully put the comb in Sakura's hair and gracefully dragged it down to the end of her hair, this was what they usually did when they got bored. Sakura got tired and sat up.  
"Tomoyo chan," She started as Tomoyo looked up. "Don't you think that this is getting a little boring now?" Tomoyo laughed and folded her arms.  
"You just don't want to do my hair ne?" She replied sarcastically.  
" No no no! It's just that.....well....all we do is sit around the house all day while Otousan and that baka Touya go to court!"   
"Well....." Tomoyo adverted her eyes from Sakura "the reason we're doing this is b...because we might not see each other again."   
Sakura moved closer to her best friend. "Why Tomoyo?" A look of concern was on her delicate face and Tomoyo wound her finger around her purple hair.  
"You know Hiiragizawa san.....he asked for my hand....in marriage." This was to be expected, Eriol had been courting Tomoyo for some time and everyone knew they were in love, plus, Eriol could hold a good place in the Imperial court for Tomoyo.  
"Tomoyo chan! That's wonderful!" She gave her friend a firm hug. "Hiiragizawa san is a very nice man! You two are perfect for each other! I'm so happy!"   
Tomoyo sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye. "Arigatou Sakura chan! Demo.....Eriol lives in Kyoto, near the palace, so.....I'll be moving.....in two days time." This was bad. They lived in Tomoeda, which was at least one hundred miles from the Capital as well as the fact that Tomoyo was leaving in two days, Sakura's eyes widened and became glazed over.  
"Tomoyo chan why didn't you tell me?!"   
" I guess I didn't want you to worry." Tomoyo started to cry and Sakura hugged her even harder, soothing her best friend and stroking her purple tresses.   
"It's ok Tomoyo chan. Daijoubu, there there calm down, don't cry. We can still write to each other."   
Tomoyo sniffed and gave Sakura a reassuring smile as they sat there in each other's arms dreading the day that they would be parted.  
  
  
  
  
  
It rained on the day Tomoyo was due to leave, the cart pulled up to the Daidouji household around midday. Sakura was in Tomoyo's room, helping to pack her kimonos, make up and scents, when they heard the driver come up to the door, their hearts sank, a look of sorrow was on Tomoyo's face as they finished packing and Daidouji san, Tomoyo's father, helped to put the things on the cart.   
As they stood there, in the rain, Tomoyo sniffing and the driver urging him to hurry up, an idea went through Sakura's head. She pulled out her favourite handkerchief from her sleeve and put it in Tomoyo's hand. It was made of light pink silk, with cherry blossom petals dancing around all over it with little feathers dotted around the edges. Tomoyo gazed at it and felt the little blossoms with her thumb, then, she took out her handkerchief, it was also made of silk but it was dark purple with green leaves and blue swallows. She gave Sakura her gift and hugged her friend for one last time.  
  
"Promise you'll write to me Sakura chan." She whispered in Sakura's ear.   
"Promise." Came the reply.  
  
And with that, Sakura's best friend, which she had known since she was four years old, who she shared her secrets and dreams with, who played court with her when they were younger, stepped into the cart and was gone before a single wave could be made.  
  
An hour after her friend had left, Sakura sat in her garden, admiring the trees and the birds, and she looked at one particular bird. She wasn't sure what type it was but its leg had been hurt. Carefully, she picked it up and tended to its wounds.   
  
  
A week after she had found the bird, she was sitting in her room, her father had been talking about marriage at the dinner table and happened to mention a man he knew at court, indicating that he might be interested in a wife. She was staring at the bird, it had been caged as it gave her pleasure when she missed her friend, but today, something was missing, she stared at the bird and started thinking to herself.  
  
Soon, I'm going to end up like Tomoyo chan, I'll have to marry and go away from everyone I love and I'll be lucky if the man isn't at least thirty years older than me! I have no say, just like this bird, I bet it has a million things to say, but it can't. My whole life is being planned out before me and I don't like it, why can't I make up my own future?!   
  
The bird chirped and jumped and flapped its wings but the cage allowed it to do nothing else.   
  
  
I'm just a caged bird.....  
  
  
Sakura leapt up and opened the door of the cage open with such force, the cage almost fell over, and the bird shot out and flew away, leaving Sakura staring after it.  
  
  
At least you have a chance to be free....... She thought wistfully.  
  
  
  
  
  
Hey my second story! I think I could be going somewhere with this! For once! I think the beginning is probably gonna be slow but it will get better as Sakura goes on! Tomoyo's the exact opposite in my other story!  
Anyway.....constructive criticism is ALWAYS appreciated and I don't own any CCS characters, they all belong to CLAMP (dammit!) who have taken time to create a lovely manga/anime.   
  
Until next time!  
  
Ja Ne  
  
Sakura Clover 


	2. Chapter 2 Peach Blossom and Kaijuu

Chapter 2- Peach Blossom and Kaijuu  
  
  
  
It had been a gruelling few months after Tomoyo left and Sakura set the bird free. Kinomoto san was talking more and more about Sorayama san, a man at court looking for a wife. Although he never mentioned it, Sakura could see it in her father's eyes, he wanted her to marry, she was already 18 and soon, she would be classed as old so he needed her married as soon as he could.   
  
She had been lucky holding out this long.  
  
  
Touya Kinomoto was a well respected man at court, having excelled in martial arts and was said to be quite a poet when given the right time and mood was upon him. Sakura looked up to her brother as he had refused to marry until he had found someone to love. Touya believed very strongly in love and had many an argument with his father. He did marry, to a lovely girl name Noriko who boar him three sons and a daughter.  
  
  
Sakura knew her time was running short and everyday she strived to come up with a plan to escape her worries. Japan was a very dangerous country what with thieves and villains running around.   
  
  
So she sat and waited.  
  
  
  
It was in Tuesday night that Kinomoto san brought Sorayama san home for some sake and tea. Their laughter filled the night sky and Sakura sat in her room, her heart beating like the wings of a butterfly as she waited for her father to summon her.   
When the summon failed to come, she got undressed and went to bed.   
  
  
It happened late at night, Sakura wasn't sure when. She had gotten out of bed to take in the night air.   
The moon was full and the sky was a dark, misty blue. Crickets chirped and owls hooted and she closed her eyes and breathed the fresh, cold air and appreciating nature. Suddenly, she heard feet patter on the floorboards behind her, she turned around to see a middle aged man with a receding hair line, his face wasn't exactly clear but from what she could see, it was full of wrinkles and a smile was on his mouth as he came closer. Sakura went to stand up but he put a firm hand on her shoulder and forced her on the floor. She wriggled as he shoved her on her back, the hard floor hurting her spine as she hit it. He was whispering things in her ear and he stunk of sake, he was obviously drunk. Sakura squirmed and wriggled but his grip got tighter the more she tried. His hand went to the opening of her kimono and he tried to force it open, Sakura knew the situation was desperate and she remembered a story she had read.   
  
  
Her mother had told her a tale of a woman desperate to get a man off her in a situation like this one. She had taken a needle from her sleeve and.....  
  
  
  
Sakura shoved in hard into the man's eye he screamed in pain and shouted all sorts of insults at Sakura.  
  
"Chikusou! Kuso!" He stumbled around while Sakura scrambled on the floor, desperate for a weapon of some sort. As she brushed her hand over the floor, it came upon something hard and cold, like steel. Still in a daze and frenzy, Sakura grabbed it and jammed one end into the man. He stopped and his eyes shone, a little groan came out of his mouth and he slumped down on the floor.  
  
Just in time for Touya to come stomping in.  
  
  
He took one look at the dead body and his stare shot to Sakura, trembling in a corner, her emerald eyes wide open and glazed, he quickly rushed to her side at hugged her.  
  
"Sakura! Thank Kamisama! I knew what he was gonna do and yet...." His voice started to crack and Sakura felt her kimono shoulder becoming soggy with his tears.  
  
" It's ok it's ok....." She replied, calming down enough to gather her surroundings and figure out what was going on.  
  
  
"Otousan has gone out for a while.....Sakura, if anyone finds out......you'll be killed......" His voice was becoming hoarse now and he stared his little sister in the face. Calm face met desperate, wet, frenzy face.  
  
Sakura's emotions didn't change and she wiped her brother's tears, Touya grabbed her hand and quickly stood up, he grabbed the sword stuck in the attacker who was no other than Sorayama san. He went straight up to his sister and grabbed her hair, with one swift swipe; the hair came clean off and fell to the floor. Now, standing in front of Touya was not his little sister, but an overly feminine-looking boy. Sakura's hair had been cut as short as Touya could make it, so it was just at the top of her neck, he quickly wrapped it in the traditional bun and ran out the room, he came back a few minutes later with some sort of armour.   
  
  
Samurai armour.  
  
  
Sakura's great great granddad had been a Samurai for the Imperial Prince of Japan and was well respected throughout the country, the Kinomoto's had taken great pride in this honour and made sure the armour was kept in prime condition. Touya quickly helped Sakura into this massive and heavy armour whilst talking at high speed.  
  
"Remember when we used to play Samurai? You were great at the sword. Run away and become what you've loved so much. I know you didn't want to marry and you've just killed your fiancé so I think this is your only chance!" He stuffed the sword in the armour and led Sakura outside where her horse, Tsuki no Hana, was standing, awake and alert. Touya tried to mount Sakura but she stopped.  
  
"What about you?! You will surely be killed!" She exclaimed as she clung to her older brother.  
  
" I will do my best to hide the body. I already have a story brewing up if anyone finds it, plus, I'm a well respected member of the Imperial court, the punishment will be less severe." He gave her a reassuring smile as he hugged her one last time and chuckled lightly at his younger sister.  
  
"I always knew you'd do something stupid like this kaijuu." He joked as Sakura gave him a pout, she mounted the horse and took her last look at her home, her memories and her life.  
  
"I'm not a kaijuu Touya kun!" She paused and plucked a cherry blossom from a tree next to her, she leaned over and placed it in Touya's hand.  
  
"Arigatou Touya kun, you're the best big brother ever and I'll never forget you!" She kicked the horse's sides lightly and started trotting away, Touya slowly following until they got to the gate where he stopped.  
  
"Do your best and may Kamisama bless you with luck and prosperity! Sayonara Sakura chan! My little kaijuu sister!" He waved as the horse carrying his little sister galloped off into the distance and he turned around to go back into the house.  
  
  
Things are definitely changing. He thought to himself.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 2 done! I apologise if anybody finds out what those words in Japanese were! GOMEN NASAI! -Bows so low her nose touches the ground- anyway, Sakura is now off to become a Samurai! I wish I could be a Samurai!-SIGH- But I'm too lazy heehee ^.^() .  
Constructive criticism-Greatly appreciated  
CCS-I don't own  
Samurai-Scary men with big swords yelling stuff in Japanese  
Me-Very tired ^.^   
  
See ya next time!  
  
Ja Ne  
  
Sakura Clover. 


	3. Chapter 3 Genki Satou

Chapter 3- Genki Satou  
  
  
  
Sakura rode hard and fast. She didn't actually know where she was going but Tsuki No Hana had been travelling for years across Japan and knew exactly where he was going. Hours had past at it was coming up to midday; Sakura slowed her horse down and stopped at a ravine for a quick refreshing break. She sat on the bank eating some berries that she had found, Tsuki No Hana chewed on some grass and before long, they were on their way again.   
  
Days past, Sakura was getting tired living on berries and her armour was heavy and hot. It was coming up to a week when Tsuki No Hana whinnied and slowed down, Sakura looked up to find a large house covered with flowers and blossoms. Sakura dismounted and immediately a bald man came shuffling out of the house, he was wearing sparkling white robes and looked to be quite old, at least around forty years old. He came right up to Sakura and bowed, she did the same.  
  
"Ah, you must be Yue! Your brother, Fuuma sent word about you coming to train here!" His voice was thin and held the knowledge of several years.   
  
Sakura thought to herself. Fuuma was the name Touya would call himself when they used to play Court! She inwardly smiled and looked up at the man, then, putting on her most manly voice, she spoke.  
  
"Hai, I am Yue, I have come to train as a Samurai." The voice was a little forced and in between, little girly sounds would slip making Sakura/Yue sound like a boy who's voice was just breaking.  
  
The man gave her a funny look and slightly raised his eyebrow but then smiled and invited the 'boy' into the house.  
  
  
The house was pretty much bare, whole rooms were just floorboards and some scrolls dotted around on the walls, there was an eating area and a courtyard but there didn't seem to be anyone else there. The man, who's name was Ichijouji, smiled when Sakura asked why no one was around.  
  
"Most of our students have gone their separate ways, only ten students still remain to complete their training."   
  
Sakura was shown to her room, three other futons were there and on one of them, a boy sat, he had jet black hair and a hint of green in his brown eyes, his eyes and face gave away most of his feelings and his eyes lit up as Ichijouji walked in the room. The boy sprang from his futon and bowed low, then looked up at Sakura and bowed, but not as low. He grabbed Sakura's hand and smiled broadly.  
  
"Hajimemashite! Satou desu. Douzo Yorishiku!" His voice was warm and calming and his grip was strong. Sakura immediately knew that this boy was trustworthy and kind.  
  
"U...uh Yue desu. Douzo Yorishiku...." She gave a bow and Satou smiled even wider. (From now on, when Sakura is 'Yue', I'll refer to her as a boy, when she is Sakura, I'll refer to her as a girl.)  
  
"You'll be sharing your room with Satou chan." Ichijouji stated. "He is a very nice boy and will take good care of you." With that, Ichijouji left, leaving Satou and 'Yue' together,  
  
"You're going to love it here! I still have quite a way to go before I've finished but the boys in our room are cool!" He let go of Yue's hand and pointed to the bed nearest the door.   
  
"That's were Kazuhiko sleeps. He's really good with the sword and.... that's where Tetsuo sleeps, he's a real ladies man…" He gave Yue a nudge and carried on talking. "That's where I sleep. You already know me! And that's your bed!" He dragged Yue over to the futon and sat him down.  
"Comfortable ne?" He said as Yue, trying to get to grips with this over hyper boy, nodded a little and got comfy on the futon. Satou plopped himself down beside Yue.   
  
"So....where are ya from?" He got comfy too, as if he was ready for a bedtime story.   
  
"Well....I came from...." Yue hadn't counted on having to tell his life story so soon and improvisation was not one of his talents.  
"I came from.....a small town near the Tomoeda province, a very small, insignificant town....very small."  
  
Satou beamed and shuffled a little.   
"I come from Hiroshima! It's so far away but my father heard that this was a top-notch martial art training centre and it's also near the Capital so I could get a lot of work! Maybe even something Imperial!" He was getting worked up now and was bouncing around the futon like a child.   
  
He can't be any older than me! Yue thought, sweat dropping. So why does he act like a child?! Maybe he's on a sugar high......  
  
  
The rest of the day consisted of genki Satou showing nervous Yue around the grounds and introducing him to all the other boys.   
There was Kazuhiko, Tetsuo, Akira, Kiyoshi, Kamui, Nomura, Sakuya, Tokio and Shizukana. They all seemed to be nice and kind but some of them seemed to be trying to prove a point to their fathers. Like Kamui, he was here because they woman he was supposed to marry died of a disease, this had happened before and Kamui's father had blamed Kamui somewhat. So he decided to travel from Osaka to train here and become a man of the Imperial court. Nearly everyone wanted something to do with the Palace, even if was just mopping up the halls. Yue was a little taken aback with this obsession with the Royal Family and they all talked non-stop about what it would be like living in the Palace and being pampered and the women being beautiful there.   
  
Finally, it was time for bed and Yue lay awake for a while listening to the sounds of the night, remembering his home, his memories, Tomoyo, Touya and Otousan. He finally dropped off to sleep and began his training early in the morning.   
  
  
It was tough and he got whipped many times for falling out of line, days passed, weeks, months, Summer became Autumn and Autumn became Winter.   
  
  
  
Sakura became Yue and Yue became Sakura.  
  
  
  
He was no longer Sakura Kinomoto, he was Yue. No past but maybe some chance of a future. His sword handling was excellent but his physical side was a little under developed. He had become good friends with everyone and best friends with the hyper Satou and knew him inside out. His voice had become manlier but he still knew who he really was.  
  
  
And everyone needs to take a bath.  
  
  
  
It was just coming back into spring when Yue finished his training and headed for the springs. He had stayed later, like he usually did. Normally he would train until the rest of the boys had finished washing and bathing so he wouldn't have to bathe with them and ruin his secret.   
  
So after a long day training, Yue finally got to the springs, took off his clothes and slipped into the calm, steaming water, taking his time to wash everywhere and generally relax. Now he was Sakura again. The sound of water relaxed her and she sighed deeply, closed her eyes and dunked her head under water, bringing it up after a few seconds. After this half an hour of relaxation, she reluctantly got out of the springs and into the bushes.   
  
  
Whilst she was drying herself, she heard the bushed move. Quickly she spun around but nothing was there. Shrugged it off, she continued to dry herself. Another rustle came. Then another. Sakura was beginning to panic, she didn't have enough clothes to cover herself and whoever was in the bushes with her would surely find out.  
  
  
Another rustle came, followed by a gasp. A boy stood in front of her; his eyes wide open at the naked girl standing before him with only a few clothes to cover up with. A few minutes went by, feeling more like hours before the boy got the courage to speak.  
  
"Y....Yue?"   
  
  
Sakura's eyes widened.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Uh oh! She had only been there for almost a year! I wonder who found her in the bushes! Will he rat her out?! Don't worry Syaoran will be in the next chapter! I know it takes years and years of training to become a Samurai but we don't have years and years! Satou's just a little crazy but he's a nice guy! Very sociable! Anyway chapter 4 will be up soon!  
  
Ja Ne!  
  
Sakura Clover 


	4. Chapter 4 Amber Eyed Warrior

Chapter 4-Amber eyed warrior  
"Y....Yue?"   
Sakura's eyes widened.   
  
"S......Satou?" She said in her normal Sakura voice.  
  
Satou stepped out from his hiding place and stared directly down at Sakura. After about a minute of this staring he looked Sakura in the eyes.  
  
"Can I ask you some questions?"   
Satou and Yue were sitting in their room drinking some tea. Sakura was nowhere to be seen and both boys seemed relaxed. Yue had related his little adventure to Satou and surprisingly, Satou took it quite well. He sat there while Yue talked with a thoughtful look on his face and his eyes never left Yue's.  
  
After the little reminiscing from Yue, Satou nodded and stretched a little and scratched his head.  
  
"You know, you caused quite a stir in my family Sa.....Yue kun." He said after some silence.  
  
Yue looked at Satou with a confused look and blinked.   
"Why Satou kun?"   
  
Satou smiled and yawned.  
  
"Taichi Sorayama just happened to be my uncle." He said this so casually that Yue nearly fell over.  
  
"N.....nani?!"   
  
"Oh don't worry Yue kun! I'm not gonna kill you or avenge his death or anything! I HATED him soooo much!" Satou was really on a role.  
  
"It was always 'Satou my boy! Grow a little ne? Eat more Yakitori! Don't treat that WOMAN like she's a princess dammit! She's a maid! Tuck in your chest! Why can't you be more like your brother?! I got soooo angry!" Satou was waving his hands in the air and strutting around the room with a sour look on his face. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and plopped down in front of Yue and leaned so close their noses were almost touching.   
  
"I really couldn't stand him." He laughed a bit and took Yue's hand in his own.  
  
"I promise to keep your secret Yue kun. Until I die."   
  
Yue's face lit up and he hugged Satou.   
  
"Arigatou Satou kun! Arigatou!" Emotion rang all through his voice.  
  
"C.....can't......breath......." Was Satou's reply.  
After Yue had released his friend and gained his composure back, Satou's face lit up like a torch.  
  
"I almost forgot! What I came to find you for!" He hopped around and put his hands on Yue's shoulder.  
  
"We're going to China!" He shouted and bounded along the floor.   
"Me, You, Shizukana, Tokio and Sakuya! Kakkoii ne? We're leaving in two days!"   
"Why?" Was all Yue could say. China?! That was so far away!   
  
"Becaussssseeeee.....There's this chibi little village that needs some bodyguards!" He tried to show off the muscles he didn't have and Yue laughed.  
  
"Soooo we get to go there and protect them! I always knew I was strong......" Satou was in his own world now. No use getting him out. Instead, Yue prepared for bed and after a while, Satou's narcissistic comments died down and Yue fell into a deep sleep.  
It had been a late start they day they were due to leave, Satou and Tokio and slept in just a tad late and almost missed the carriage to the harbour. Now they were all on a big boat set for China. Nearly all the boys were commenting on their good luck to be going to another country and show off their skills but one boy kept silent, just sitting in a corner, thinking.   
  
Yue couldn't say exactly what it was, maybe it was just sea-sickness but, for some reason, he felt like something good was going to happen in this new country.   
  
Like someone was waiting for him.   
  
But not entirely waiting for Yue, it was more like someone was waiting for Sakura, with eager open arms. Yue shrugged this crazy feeling off but didn't completely forget about it, he kept it in the back of his mind, the part where feelings turn into instincts and he simply put this feeling aside to contemplate it to see whether it was instinct. He would know when he got there.  
They finally got off the boat after two days at sea. Most of the boys were now suffering from seasickness and Satou's normally tanned skin was a ghostly white as he stumbled off the boat and onto solid ground.   
  
They were led to a small village about an hour's ride from the harbour. It defiantly wasn't one of those mud hut villages, all the houses were well made and chickens ran around everywhere, clucking and flapping at the newcomers.   
One thing that most the boys noticed, after how pretty some of the girls were, was their feet. Some of the girls were sort of shuffling with looks of pain on their faces; some were in chairs feeling happy that they weren't walking. On a closer look, Sakuya and Shizukana noticed that their feet appeared to be tied up; they looked sort of like the toes had been bent under the foot. It made Yue feel faint.   
  
A woman came marching up to the boys. She was as pale as the moon and hair that was as black as the darkest night. She wasn't shuffling and she wore a sort of air about her, one of great importance. She bowed low and the boys followed, bowing lower.   
  
"Welcome to our village. My name is Li Yelan and I am the Governor's wife. I'm sorry he couldn't come but he is training with his son. Please, follow me." She started walking away and the cautious Japanese boys followed her slowly. Satou had a quick chance to whisper to Yue.  
  
"I feel like a duck in a pond full of swans!" He exclaimed, looking around.  
They entered a sort of training room and the sound of fighting could be heard. There appeared to be two men and a girl, Li Yelan walked up to the door and, motioning for the boys to wait, stepped in. Small murmurs could be heard and a man stepped out. He was wearing glasses and looked like one of those intellectual types. His eyes were kind and his dark hair was long, tied near the bottom and shone little bits of purple when he turned it.   
  
"Hello, I am the governor of this village. I am glad that you came so quickly. This is my niece (is that right?) Li Meilin."   
  
Out stepped a girl around eighteen with fiery red eyes and a smile on her face. She was DEFINITELY an independent woman who didn't take any crap. Most of the boys gasped when she came in and she let her smile widen, fixing her eyes on Satou, making him blush a deep crimson red.   
  
"And this is my son, Meilin's cousin, Li Syaoran."   
The Sakura part of Yue nearly died of astonishment.   
A boy who at least had to be nineteen, almost twenty, slowly walked out from the training room and faced the group of boys who all sort of shrunk back a little at the sight of him. His face wore a stern frown but his features were sharp and handsome, his hair was a wavy chestnut unlike his parents and it flowed and bounced whenever he turned his head. But the thing that most captivated everyone was his eyes. They were a strong amber colour that seemed to see right into everybody's soul. They were deep and cold but still held some sort of soft side to them. Syaoran bowed to the gaping boys and immediately his eyes fixed on Yue.   
The Sakura part of Yue was a craze of emotions, the minute Syaoran's foot stepped put from the door, she was going wild. He was that guy ALL the girls wanted, especially Sakura and she would've died just to hear him say her name.   
Then, he had stared intently at her and she could feel the blush rise up.   
  
Ca....calm down Sakura.......You're Yue now........breath......one....two......  
Yue composed himself and stared back at this boy who had completely stolen Sakura.   
And it's hard trying to be a boy with a girl in your head.   
Syaoran didn't say anything; he just looked, like he was defining everyone just from their looks. You could tell his father was proud of him and Yue couldn't help notice Meilin staring intently at Syaoran too.   
  
This little firework display of emotions in Yue's head died down when Syaoran led them to their rooms and went, not saying a word. Yue was with Satou and Shizukana and they sat up all night talking about how good looking Meilin was. But Yue said nothing and even though his expression was blank, Satou could see it, he didn't say anything to Yue, but he could see what was going on in his head.   
They eventually turned the lights out and went to bed, preparing for the day ahead of them.  
I'm sooooo sorry I took so long in updating! I walked in a doorframe and hurt my toe! I was waiting in the hospital for ages and it turns out........I'm OK! Plus my internet's been going kinda crazy! SYAORAN'S MADE AN APPEARANCE! It was kind of short but I liked it! Sakura's going crazy while Yue's trying to compose himself! Does that make sense? Anyway I'll update, you review! Simple ne?  
  
Ja Ne!  
  
Sakura Clover 


	5. Chapter 5 Head over Feet

Chapter 5-Head Over Feet  
Yue and company were woken up quite brutally early in the morning by Tokio and Sakuya bouncing around on their beds and screaming "Ohayou Gozaimasu! Today's a new day!"   
Poor Satou, who honestly didn't like being woken from his precious sleep was quite distraught at the intrusion and threw anything he could find and the two boys, hopping around like bunnies.  
Yue sort of groaned and got out of bed while Shizukana quietly folded his sheets into a perfect square and went to get some water.  
  
Most of the village was already up and busy. People collected water from the taps in the ground; little old men were chasing clucking chickens but without success and Yue stepped out to breathe in the fresh air. He walked around the grounds for a while before having some breakfast. Even though he wasn't entirely sure of what it was, it was good and all the boys gobbled it down, hungry for seconds.   
  
Tokio was the leader of the little band of Japanese boys so he went for a meeting with the Governor to talk over the plans of them protecting the village.   
  
Yue was quite happily walking in some wheat fields, admiring the countryside scene and thinking about Touya and Japan. He skipped a little and hummed, it felt like such a nice day. A gently breeze was blowing and the clouds were all sorts of shapes. Yue stopped when he heard a noise. Someone was out here with him. Yue was immediately on his guard as he slowly trod through the great stalks of wheat following the sound of the person.   
  
When he finally got to where the sound appeared to be coming from, he pulled back some stalks and saw a boy with a stick, practising all sorts of martial arts, the boy was wearing nothing but some cream coloured trousers, the boy's face was calm and sweat trickled down onto the ground. His chestnut hair was drenched but the boy didn't show any sign that he was going to stop at any time.   
  
Half way through a kicking stance, he paused and turned his head towards Yue. Yue jumped and tried to run but fell over backwards, landing on his back and banging his head. The boy was getting closer but Yue was in too much pain to care, he sat up and rubbed his head, moaning and whining like a baby. The boy's hand reached out and Yue stared up.   
  
There were those amazing eyes he had seen yesterday, but this time, instead of an icy glare, they were full of concern as Yue took Syaoran's hand and got up, still rubbing his head.   
  
"Are you okay?" Syaoran's voice was calm and sort of husky, it made Yue feel all floaty as he stared into Syaoran's eyes.   
  
"Are you okay?" Syaoran asked again, his voice had a hint of impatience in it and Yue immediately snapped out of his thoughts and turned a light red.  
  
"Um.....I'm fine, fine. Thank you." Then came that awkward silence where nobody knows what to say and all you can hear is your heat beating.  
  
"A girl shouldn't be walking out here alone." Syaoran suddenly said, making Yue blink.  
  
"W....what?" Did Syaoran see through her disguise? What would he say? Yue immediately realised his hair was down and his bindings weren't on. Baka! What a stupid thing to do!   
  
"You're a little dippy aren't you?" Syaoran's voice was quite cold, like he didn't know how to act in front of people.   
  
"Hey! Just because I'm a girl! I can walk wherever I wanna!" She gave Syaoran a light shove and he started to chuckle.  
  
"Hey calm down girl! Geez, I didn't know you were on your monthly's!" He put his hands up in a sort of surrender but that remark was like rubbing salt in a wound. A whole year of being a man and being equal, she wasn't going to give all that up because of some idiot with a stick!  
  
"What the hell do you know? You.....you Gaki!" She shoved him hard and he fell over. He was clearly enjoying this but that last remark confused him.  
  
"What the hell's a gaki?" He stood up and clasped his hands hard on Sakura's shoulder, making her go even redder.   
  
"Like you care gaki!" She wriggled out of his grasp and swept her foot under his leg, making him fall over again.  
  
"Whoa! Someone is definitely on their monthly's!" He was finding this so amusing! Sakura's blood started to boil, she jumped on Syaoran and tried to claw him. He resisted her easily, laughing the whole time. He lightly threw her off and pinned her raging body to the ground.   
  
"My my, we're a little crazy aren't we? Who are you anyway? You're Japanese but I didn't see you yesterday."   
Sakura hitched her legs up and wrapped them around the front of Syaoran and pulled him down, so she was back on top.   
  
"My name is no concern of yours!" She spat at him, anger fuelling her. Syaoran managed to wriggle his hand free and brought it up to Sakura's face, brushing it along her cheek. Sakura immediately froze, staring at the boy who dares insult her, she felt herself weakening as his fingers brushed the hair out of her eyes. Sakura leaned down and Syaoran sat up, they were getting closer and their eyes slowly started to close.   
"YUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE? YYUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE KUUUUUUUUUUN???!!!!"   
  
Satou bounded straight onto the scene with his ever-so-perfect timing. He took one look at the scene, a girl on top of a boy, their faces so close they could almost of been kissing.   
  
Sakura flew off Syaoran, who was as red as a tomato and they both stood up.   
"Sakura chan!" Was all Satou could say. Syaoran gave Sakura a sideways glance, almost like he was saying 'I know your name now!'  
  
"Uhh....uhhh......Satou kun......." Sakura squeaked as she stared at the floor.   
  
Satou shifted around before suddenly embracing Sakura.  
  
"My dear little sister! How nice of you to come visit me! All the way out here!"   
  
Sakura just stood there, wide-eyed and a little shocked. Syaoran quietly composed himself, a little embarrassed that he was about to kiss the sister of a Samurai. He coughed and swung his hands behind his back.   
  
"I'll ummm..I'll be going now, Sakura, nice meeting you." Syaoran dashed off into the wheat, leaving Satou and Sakura alone.   
They parted and Satou bonked Sakura on the head with his palm.  
  
"You muppet!" He exclaimed. "You fool! Baka! Why did you have to go running off! I was trying to find you to tell you to get changed as you're still a girl!"   
Sakura dropped her head and apologised. That didn't stop Satou though, once he was making a speech, he was making a speech and no one could stop him.   
"That was very dangerous! We could both get in trouble! Maybe even killed! Sakura, you're gonna have to be more careful ne?" He had calmed down abit and his face was now concerned as he gently put his hands on Sakura's shoulders. She nodded and apologised again.   
"Yeah well, you owe me!" He hugged her and they walked back to the village.  
I have nothing to say except I'm now on an Inu Yasha addiction! Kamisama! Don't you just lurrrrrv Inu kun's attitude?! He's all like 'I don't care! Feh!' But he does really! Awwwwww.  
  
Je ne  
  
Sakura Clover 


	6. Chapter 6 The Evil Guys

Chapter 6 -The Evil Guys  
  
After the brief encounter with Syaoran, Sakura went back into her room and came out as Yue. Breakfast had already been and gone and Yue was quite angry at having missed his food, luckily for him though, Satou had saved some rice.  
  
After eating the little breakfast, Yue stepped outside to find all the boys stretching and practising. Syaoran ran up to Satou and bowed, his face a little red.  
  
"Uh. I'm sorry about, um, what happened with your sister." He murmured. Satou gave him a confused look and immediately turned it into an innocent smile.  
  
"What happened with my sister? As far as I know, she was talking to you. Did something happen that I should know about?" He questioned Syaoran with one eyebrow raised.  
  
Syaoran went really red at that comment and started to shake his head vigorously.  
  
"No! Nothing at all! Hahahaha." He trailed off and bowed again. Yue saw this as a chance to get Syaoran off Sakura's back.  
  
"Oh Satou kun!" He exclaimed, winking. "Your sister, Sakura, is she here?"  
  
Satou's smile got wider and he nodded. "Hai, she'll be leaving at the end of the week."  
  
Yue put a finger on his chin and grinned. "Sakura's a fine one isn't she? Lovely hair, nice emerald eyes." Out of the corner of his eye, Yue could see Syaoran getting redder and a frown was forming on his face.  
  
"Yes.perhaps your dad and my dad could do some talking.She looks good for bearing sons."  
  
A low growl could be heard from Syaoran's throat and he stormed off, leaving a trail of dust behind him. Yue and Satou broke out laughing.  
  
"Yue kun, do you think that was clever though?" Satou said, wiping his eyes.  
  
"I can't have Syaoran trying to find Sakura, I've gotta keep my distance from him or else." Yue's eyes became glazed over and he blushed. "Oh Yue! Don't tell me you.. You." Satou groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead.  
  
"This is very dangerous Yue kun, that Meilin girl likes him too! Plus, if he finds out!"  
  
"But he won't Satou kun, I'll make sure of it!"  
Half way through the day, the villagers started to get panicky, they wrung their hands and shifted about on their feet looking anxious.  
  
The boys got a little worried about this sudden change in atmosphere and Satou started to mime cutting the air. Sakuya bonked him on the head and asked what Satou was doing.  
  
"I'm cutting the tension." Came the reply and he continued.  
  
Tokio ran up to the group and shook his head.  
  
"Ahahaha.I guess I forgot to brief you guys. I just came out from talking to the governor. Around four times a week, this gang sort of shows up, demanding money and women. Uh.today just happens to be their second visit. We've been instructed to protect this village."  
  
Syaoran and Meilin came running up to the group and handed them all Bo staffs and some swords. As he gave Yue his sword, Syaoran gave him an evil glare and shoved it in Yue's hands. Yue gulped.  
  
"These guys are good, so you've gotta be better! You've been hired to protect this village so don't screw up!" Then he and Meilin stood with the group, Syaoran was next to Tokio and Sakuya, Meilin was wedged beside Yue and Satou.  
  
Horse's hooves were heard in the distance and Yue could just make out a bunch of black dots coming over a mountain pass, whoops and yells could be heard faintly and the whole village was silent as women and children hurried into the small houses, sweat was dripping from the Governor's forehead and Yelan stood there, tall and proud as ever.  
  
As the gang got closer, Yue's heartbeat got faster. He looked over to Syaoran who's eyes were scanning the village, a flash of concern darted through them.  
  
He was looking for Sakura.  
  
The gang was finally in full view. At least ten of them, minimum, all with long swords and heavy armour. Their hair was tied up but falling out, whipping around their ugly faces. As they screamed, horrible, dirty teeth were visible and their horses were frothing at the mouth.  
  
They arrived at the village entrance and slowed down, the horses parted, letting a tall man with what seemed like animal skin wrapped around his head and neck. He surveyed the newcomers and laughed.  
  
"I see we have some guest lads!" He bellowed and the whole gang laughed. The man stepped down from his horse and walked up to the Governor.  
  
"What's the meaning of bringing this foreign scum over to our village eh?" He spat, his face up close to the Governor's.  
  
When he didn't get a reply, he turned to the band of boys.  
  
"How rude of me! Allow me to introduce myself! I am Zháo." He gave a mock bow. " I own this town, my word is law." He walked straight up to Shizukana and shoved him. "So you stupid Japanese better piss off before I hurt you all!"  
  
He scanned the group and his eyes fell on Meilin. He slowly strutted up to her and gave her a toothy grin.  
  
"Well well, what do we have here?" He teased, rubbing his chin.  
  
Meilin didn't even blink, she stared at him straight in the eyes, no emotion played on her face, everyone was quiet, hoping a miracle would happen.  
  
Zháo inched closer to Meilin and took her hair in his hands.  
  
"You're a pretty one aren't you sweetheart?" He played with Meilin's hair, twirling it around his thick, gloved fingers.  
  
Yue saw Meilin's hand twitch and before he could even blink, a slap rang out, braking the silence. Everybody gasped and stared at Meilin who resumed the position she was in before she had slapped Zháo.  
  
He held his face and glared at her, anger filled his yellow eyes and he put his hand up and started to bring it down on Meilin.  
  
An inch away and he stopped; a hand was holding his back. Satou stood there, his hand gripping Zháo's, his face was full of rage but he didn't move, he just stared at the gang leader, brown on dirty yellow. It stayed like that for a few seconds but of course, to the whole village, including Satou, it felt like years. Zháo forced his hand out of Satou's grip and smirked.  
  
"I see you've hired some impressive dirt bags." He retorted, walking back to his horse.  
  
"Don't get all excited though. We'll be back in three days to tear this town apart!" He made a yipping sound and the gang rode off leaving the village in a state of shock.  
  
The first to speak was the Governor. He cleared his throat and stepped over to where Satou and Meilin were stood, still in their original positions.  
  
"Thank you, Master Satou, Meilin dear, are you okay?"  
  
Meilin snapped out of her trance, she had been expecting a hard, heavy blow to her face but instead she got this.this.quite good-looking boy saving her!  
  
"I'm fine, um."She turned to Satou and bowed quickly, blushing. "A...ri...ga...too." She stammered. Satou smiled at her attempt to learn his language and bowed back.  
  
"Dou ittashimashite." He replied and Meilin gave him a confused look.  
  
"It means you're welcome." He whispered to her, winking and making her blush again.  
The village had returned back to normal, Meilin and Satou were getting better acquainted, Tokio was discussing yet even more plans with the Governor, Sakuya and Shizukana were playing in the lake with some of the local boys.  
And Sakura was washing her hair.  
  
She knew it was dangerous, someone could come along any minute but she refused to go a whole week without washing her hair. As if it wasn't bad tempered enough! Having it greasy and dirty was too much. Her bindings were still on so maybe she could pretend to be Yue if someone came, but nobody had showed up and she was nearly finished. She flicked up her hair, letting water splash everywhere, and combed it with her fingers. Smiling at her discreetness and not getting caught she laughed and whirled around, ready to go back to being Yue.  
  
Syaoran was standing behind her.  
  
She gave out a yelp and fell over. Again.  
  
He blushed like mad and helped her up. Again.  
  
"Hello.Sakura." He mumbled, keeping his eyes down.  
  
"You were watching me!" She yelled.  
  
"Well.I wanted to see if you were okay. I didn't see you when Zháo came." He sounded so innocent! Sakura couldn't help but calm down, even if it was just a little bit.  
  
"You could've warned me you peeping tom!" She said, smiling.  
  
He looked up at her and smiled back.  
  
"Uh, sorry about this morning. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." He scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously.  
  
"Do you forgive me?" He asked, extending his hand.  
  
Sakura rolled her eyes and shook his hand.  
  
"Whatever gaki." She murmured. He quickly squeezed her hand, making her yell.  
  
"What was that for?" She screamed.  
  
"You called me a gaki! I heard you!" He laughed. It was all happening again.  
  
"Gaki gaki gaki gaki gaaaaaaaakiiiiiiiii." She taunted, watching his face go red.  
  
He took her hand, which was still in his and pulled her right up close to him. She could hear his heart beat, it was going fast. Ba-bumpba-bumpba- bump. His eyes softened like they did last time they met and he leaned closer. "Say that again," He whispered. "And I'll kiss you."  
  
Sakura blink a few times and stuck out her tongue. "BAKA!" She yelled and pushed him over. He stared at her wide-eyed as she twirled around him.  
  
"Gaki gaki gaki gaki gaki!" She sung again before running off.  
  
Syaoran sat there, not believing his behaviour around Sakura. He would NEVER do that to any other girl! He breathed in and out before standing up and going home.  
  
Sakura ran around the corner and into her bedroom. She calmed herself and flopped on her bed. What the hell? She thought. Kamisama! He just goes straight from the intros and onto the romance! I think he could be rushing it just a tad! She closed her eyes and sighed. What would've happened if I did kiss him? She smiled and shifted her position. I bet his lips are real soft. She snapped open her eyes and jumped out of bed. That is NOT something I should be thinking about! I need something to take my mind off this guy! She did up her hair and was Yue yet again. He got out some paper and some ink and started to do some writing. He didn't know what he was writing but anything would be good to take his mind of that gaki!  
  
He stared at the paper and groaned.  
  
All over it was Syaoran's name.  
  
Ripping it up and throwing it away, he hugged his pillow. What am I supposed to do? He thought as his eyelids became heavy. The room blurred and Yue fell into a deep sleep.  
My fingers hurt! Sometimes I don't know what's worse, typing or writing! Any hoo, it appears quite a few people like Inu Yasha! And there's the matter of that crazy Miroku fan. I guess my fave characters are of course the looooovely Inu Yasha himself, cute lil' Shippou and Kagome's brother (I've forgotten his name! Sota?) and, not forgetting, Miroku. He is VERY cool, I gotta admit. Hahaha a bit perverted though ne? Well, I'm going, my holiday is almost over! It's Saturday and I have to go back to school on Monday! Nooooo! Ja ne  
  
Sakura Clover. 


	7. Chapter 7 Syaoran VS Yue

Chapter 7-Syaoran VS Yue  
When Yue finally opened his weary eyes, it was early morning. He had woken up half through the night and couldn't get back to sleep, instead he had devised a plan to, hopefully, stop this silly Syaoran business before it got way out of hand.  
When the rest of the boys had woken up and gone to get some breakfast, Yue quickly changed into Sakura and headed for the wheat fields.   
  
Touya had always said that Sakura was a drama queen, always making things worse than they really are. Perhaps she was just going over the top again, but she had to do something before everything got out of hand.   
  
As Sakura had hoped, Syaoran was in the same spot, practising. Sakura quickly walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and smiled when he saw her.   
  
"Sakura! How are you?" He asked, beaming.  
"Uh, not so good Syaoran." She replied, her eyes cast down.   
  
Syaoran's voice immediately became softer and he stepped closer to Sakura.  
  
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" His voice was full of concern, making it ten times harder on Sakura.   
"No, well, yes." She took a deep breath and look straight up at Syaoran.  
  
"Syaoran, I can't see you anymore okay?! I'm going home, back to Japan!"   
The look on his face nearly tore her apart. It sort of went from concern, then his eyes glazed over a bit, his mouth opened a bit, he closed his eyes really tight and hung his head. Sakura could hear little hiccups coming from him.   
He grabbed her shoulder and stared straight at her.   
  
"W...why Sakura?" Was all he could come up with.   
  
Sakura put her hand on his and tried a reassuring smile.  
  
"Come off it Syaoran, we've known each other for, what? A day? I'm not even supposed to be here! I've gotta go! I have a life in Japan…" She trailed off and silence broke out.  
After about a minute, Syaoran sniffed.  
  
"Do you love him?" He asked. Sakura blinked.  
  
"What?"   
"Do. You. Love. Him?" He asked again, he eyes were watery and he was on the brink of crying.   
  
"I don't know what you're talking about."   
Syaoran snorted and turned away.   
  
"Yeah, like I believe that!" He said, disdain dripping from every word he spoke.   
  
"Syaoran please, trust me, there is no one else!" Sakura cried, her eyes beginning to water as well.   
"Don't lie to me Sakura! I couldn't bear it if you lied to me!" He pleaded, tears now falling freely from his eyes.   
  
"What the hell? ONE DAY! We've spoken twice! Why do you act like we've been together since we were young?" Sakura was crying now too.   
"Because that's what it felt like!" Syaoran yelled back. "Whenever I'm with you, I feel like we've known each other for years! I feel free! Even if we have only met twice!" This was getting complicated and Sakura had to find a way to get out of this.   
  
"Look, Syaoran, regardless of how you 'felt', I have to go! It just wasn't meant to be okay?" She carefully took his hands off her shoulders and quietly walked away, Syaoran looking at her receding back.   
No one dared go near Syaoran, not even his father, everyone kept their distance, when Syaoran was in a mood, Kamisama! You could get killed! The village just left him alone, sulking around the houses, looking at the ground and dragging his feet. Little sniffs could be heard coming from him every now and again.  
Satou and Meilin stared at him from the window of Meilin's bedroom.   
  
"He's hardly EVER in a mood." Sighed Meilin. "I wonder what's wrong?"   
  
Satou knew exactly what was wrong, but he wasn't going to tell Meilin, regardless of how much he liked her.   
  
"You know Satou." She said, staring out the window. "I used to like Syaoran."   
  
Satou blinked, it was pretty obvious! The whole village knew!  
  
"Really?" He said with fake surprise.   
  
"Uh huh. But..." She turned round to face Satou and smiling, she patted him on the head. "I think I've found some one better!"   
Yue was getting some water from the well when Syaoran came past, sniffing and depressed. Yue tried to be as quiet as he could but it seemed as if he had radar built into him or something as the minute Yue moved, Syaoran cast his harsh amber eyes up and glared at Yue. He stopped walking and stood there, his bloodshot eyes became colder and harsher and his face was grave and red, Yue stood there, with a bucket full of water in his hand, gulping and praying Syaoran didn't decide that he was to be the victim of Syaoran's anger. It'd be pretty ironic.  
Syaoran took a step towards Yue, then another, and another, all the while keeping his gaze on Yue.   
Yue didn't move, he couldn't. The bucket in his hands shook as Syaoran approached.  
  
There were now face to face. A small crowd had gathered and Yue could smell Syaoran's scent and his breath, ruffling Yue's hair.   
  
Syaoran didn't say a word; he just stared at the boy in front of him. The tension was mounting again, just like when Zháo's gang had come. Yue was trembling inside but was calm on the outside. Syaoran's breathing was ragged and hard.   
  
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Syaoran's fist met Yue's face.  
  
Yue stumbled back, his face stinging from the pain and Syaoran was approaching him again. He grabbed Yue's shirt and threw him to the floor, then, picking him up by the shirt again, his kicked him in the stomach making Yue yell out in pain.   
  
Well, Yue was not going to take this shit from some heart-broken boy. He straightened himself and slammed the bucket over Syaoran's head, making a sort of crunchy sound. Syaoran's head flew off to the side but immediately snapped back to face Yue, he went for a punch but Yue saw it coming and blocked it before kicking Syaoran in the ribs, he didn't do it too hard as it would be kind of stupid to hurt the son of a Governor who just happened to be paying you as well as the guy you sort of fancied, so Yue hit him hard enough to through Syaoran off balance.  
Syaoran growled a bit as he fell to the floor and jumped back up, full of rage. Yue tried to take this chance to walk away; he didn't want a fight, especially if he didn't know the reason for it. But Syaoran was not one to let someone just walk away! He crouched down, grabbed Yue's ankles and lifted them up, causing Yue to crash to the ground. Syaoran pinned him with his knees and prepared to punch.   
  
Yue lay there, his emerald eyes fixed on Syaoran's amber ones as Syaoran lifted his arm in the air, a big crowd had gathered and murmurs were heard as Syaoran stopped.   
Something about Yue's eyes...they looked like hers...  
Syaorans dropped his arm down and got off the surprised Yue.   
  
"You're not worth it gaki!" He spat as he walked away leaving Satou to help Yue up.  
"I told you that saying the thing with my dad and your dad and Sakura was a bad idea!" Satou said, completely concerned for the Sakura part of Yue.   
  
"Yeah well, I asked for it." Yue murmured, looking after Syoaran.  
"Well one good thing came out of this!" Satou smiled.  
  
"And what would that be Satou kun?" Yue asked, sarcastically.   
  
"You kept the bucket in you hands for the whole fight."  
Ohhhhhh did you see that? Syaoran kicked the crap outta Yue! Oh well! I got so many reviews for my last chapter, I was in a fluffy mood and I apologise to Terri, I know you have a name but my fingers really hurt yesterday! Try saying mine ten times fast! Haha! This must be the quickest I've updated! Hey hey guess what I saw to-day? 'Bogus' with Whopee Goldberg and HALEY JOEL OSMENT! Yaaaaay, he was soooo sweet, but he looked way too much like a boy I know at school who I HATE! But he was cute ^.^ . My sister thinks I'm crazy.   
  
Ja ne  
  
Sakura Clover 


	8. Chapter 8 A Letter From Tomoyo

Chapter 8-A Letter From Tomoyo  
It was the day before Zháo's gang would come back to the village; Sakura was lying on her bed, twiddling her index finger around one of her auburn strands. Everyone else was out so she wasn't worried about being caught.  
  
It was around an hour past midday when Satou came bounding into the room, in his hands he held a piece of folded material, it was half hidden behind his back. He took three long strides over to Sakura and stood in front of her, beaming.  
  
"Guess what I got?" He teased, a glint in his eye.  
  
"Uh, an invitation to the Imperial Court of Japan?" Sakura replied, not in the mood for games.  
  
"Almost," Satou said and plonked himself on Sakura's bed. "But it's really for you."  
  
He held out the material and Sakura immediately sat up, grabbing it.  
It was a piece of purple cloth with gold lines whirling around like waves on the sand, Sakura instantly recognised the favourite colours of her friend. Hurriedly, she unfolded the cloth to reveal to pieces of paper, the one on top was smaller than the other and it was in different handwriting. Sakura picked it up, her hand shaking.  
Dear Kaijuu,  
How are you? Dad's pretty upset about the fact that you've run away, he hopes you're okay. The little story I told worked on everybody. Aren't I the best? I hope that training hasn't been too tough on you. I know how weak you are. Father met a nice lady at court, I can't remember her name right now but I think its Kaho. Anyway this letter came for you a while ago. A monk has hopefully delivered it to you.  
I hope your doing well. I miss you kaijuu.  
Lots of love  
Touya.  
Sakura smiled at her brother's letter, she missed him sorely but was glad everything was okay and he wasn't in trouble for what she did.  
Satou was reading over her back and she took out the bigger piece of paper. It was a little worn, like it had travelled a long way but the words were still legible.  
Dear Sakura chan  
  
I'm sorry I haven't written to you for so long, I've just been so busy. Please don't hate me.  
  
Eriol is wonderful, I'm glad I married him. He was very supportive when I had to leave you, I still miss you now. I have a maid to comb my hair but it's not the same as when you do it. Do you remember when we would stay up all night talking about our hopes and dreams? I miss those nights so much. You'll never guess what. I've got a son! He was born last year and his name is Kiyoshi. He has the same eyes as Eriol. I have also recently had a little girl, she was born in the same month as you and Eriol let me call her Sakura. Isn't that sweet? She may be little but she has the same genkiness as you. Her eyes aren't as green as yours but her hair is a wonderful shade of auburn. Just looking at her reminds me of you.  
How are you? Have you met anyone special yet? I remember when we would play court and you would brush off all the pretend suitors with a wave of your hand! And how you would stick your tongue out at any boy who so much as glanced your way! Those were good times ne? I've heard that Sasaki Rika has a place in the court and has already had three sons, Terada san is older than her but whenever I see them, they always look happy. Chiharu and Yamazaki have just gotten married but Chiharu nearly strangled him when he tried to lie about the origins or marriage! Naoko has retreated into the mountains to become a nun; she never liked boys that much either and I've heard that she's doing well. What are you doing? Is your father still trying to find you a husband or have you already married?  
  
I still have the handkerchief you gave me when I left. I hope you still have mine.  
I hope we can see each other again soon. Please write back as I miss you more each day.  
Your loving friend  
Tomoyo  
Tears started to drip out of Sakura's eyes, then she started to sob, then it was full out crying. Out of everything she had missed her brother and her friend the most. The letters had just sparked the longing she had for them and she put her head down and wept. Satou put his arm around her, pulling her closer to him as he tired to comfort her. She leaned into him and cried harder.  
"It's okay Sakura chan. If all goes well tomorrow, we'll be back home soon and you can go back to your friend." He reassured her, making comforting noises and gently rubbing her arm.  
Sakura looked up and smiled between sobs.  
"Tomoyo and I promised we would never break up, that we would be friends forever." She leaned back into Satou chest. "I just miss her so much! I wish we could've been together always! And Touya kun! I miss him too, even though he did call me a kaijuu all the time, but.but." She cried harder and dug her face harder into Satou's chest.  
They sat there for about half an hour before Sakura, tired and emotional, fell asleep. Satou sat there, Sakura asleep on him, gently stroking her hair.  
"Don't worry Sakura chan." He whispered. " When you wake up, you can write a letter to Tomoyo and your brother, then, once we kick Zháo's ass, maybe you can marry Syaoran. But first though, you've gotta tell him about you being Yue or else it could get ugly." Then he too eventually fell asleep.  
Unknown to both of the sleeping bodies, a chestnut haired Chinese boy had been peeping through a gap in the door, listening to the whole conversation.  
Ok, that was a little short, but it's sort of like a simple chapter, you know, a little calmer from what had been happening. School was boring, I had to have a jab, stupid BCG, well it was actually a skin test but it still kinda hurt! Well, I haven't had my Inu Yasha daydream yet so I think I'd better go.  
Ja Ne  
Sakura Clover 


	9. Chapter 9 The Return Of Zháo

Chapter 9-The Return Of Zháo   
A sort of quiet was on the village. Everyone was straining to hear the hooves of Zháo's horses coming towards them. The Governor was on edge; the whole village was on edge (any more edge and they'd be falling off.), Yue and the other foreign boys were preparing for Zháo's return, practicing and sharpening their weapons. Syaoran was most probably in the fields training, Meilin was watching Satou with a Bo staff, and he was very clumsy with it.  
  
At around two hours past midday, the sounds of hooves were heard. Everybody froze and looked to the direction of the sound.   
Ba-bump Ba-bump Ba-bump Ba-bump  
The sound was getting louder and already the gang was in view. The men lined up the same as they the last time Zháo had arrived, this time would be different though, maybe some men might even die.   
The gang approached the entrance of the village but didn't wait for formalities. They carried on riding into the village, yipping and whooping as they drew their swords. The village men grabbed whatever weapon they could find and charged straight into the horses, their pitchforks and swords turned upwards.  
The horses screeched as the weapons were plunged into them, they toppled over and lay dead or wounded on the ground. The dismounted gang members charged with full force at the village men, screaming and cursing. The whole town was in chaos as the children and women stayed in the Governor's large house, watching their homes burn. Meilin, who was charged on taking care of the women, watched eagerly for Satou, a glimpse or a flash would be sufficient to ease her. So far, she had seen nothing.  
Syaoran had come running from the fields a few seconds before Zháo had arrived. Hell bent on killing Zháo himself, he dived into the waging war and killed every non-villager he saw.   
  
Satou was cornered as about five disgusting looking men encircled him. He quickly prepared his Bo staff and shoved it into one of the men's stomach, winding him. He did the same to two others, whacked one over the head and grabbed the last one's head, slamming it face down into the ground before going off to fight more evil guys.  
  
  
  
Yue was almost directly behind Syaoran, though the Chinese boy didn't realise it. Yue took out everyone who tried to get close to Syaoran, breaking necks, backs and I think one man got his nose broken as well.   
  
  
Tokio, Shizukana and Sakuya were guarding the Governor's house from the gang. Ducking and diving from the flailing arms and weapons coming towards them.   
Syaoran was off in his own little world of killing people, rage and adrenalin was taking over as he blocked off attacks and dealt out his own, creating a path to get to Zháo. It was his job to kill Zháo. His job.  
"Don't worry Sakura chan. When you wake up, you can write a letter to Tomoyo and your brother, then, once we kick Zháo's ass, maybe you can marry Syaoran. But first though, you've gotta tell him about you being Yue or else it could get ugly…"  
  
  
The thought of what his friend, Chen had told him flashed through his mind. Chen had been distracted yesterday by the sound of a girl crying, so, being the nosy boy he is, went to inspect. He heard everything Sakura and Satou had said and ran off to tell Syaoran. Now, even in the heat of battle, Sakura was all he could think about. And killing Zháo.  
  
"SYAORAN!"   
He snapped out of his trance and turned to see and giant, ugly man with an axe held above his head, he slammed it down but stopped about a centimetre away from Syaoran's head. The man dropped dead and standing behind him with a sword was Yue, blood was strewn all over his face and he looked very tired, he gave Syaoran a weak smile and elbowed the man coming to his left.  
  
  
Syaoran blinked and stared.  
  
If Sakura is Yue, then that means that yesterday I...  
His eyes widened at what he had just realised he had done. Now he was REALLY mad. He jumped up and kicked every guy's ass that came near Yue. Zháo was in the back of his mind now. Yue stood there, dumbfounded and Syaoran tore up every shred of man coming within an inch of him and Syaoran.  
The battle was on the villager's side. Thanks to the Japanese boys, they may not of lasted this long. Nearly all the gang members were killed or badly injured, there was just Zháo and his two closest men left.  
  
  
The whole place froze again as Zháo headed for the Governor's house. It was silent. Though the gang had been destroyed, no one dared try and fight Zháo, and now he was going for the women and children!  
The Governor and another villager took down his two chief men but Zháo continued to ride hard and fast to the house. The three boys on guard were trembling as the half crazed man rode faster and faster towards them.   
  
  
  
Shizukana was shaking the most as he held his bow and arrow, trying desperately to aim. He saw Syaoran charging up behind Zháo, Yue's sword in his hand.   
Must kill Zháo. Must kill Zháo. Must kill Zháo.  
Syaoran's head said those words over and over. Sakura was safe. Now he must deal the finishing blow.  
Zháo stopped dead and Syaoran went crashing into him. The horse was wriggling on the floor and Syaoran was on top of the big hunk of meat known as Zháo. He quickly raised his sword. Then he stopped.  
There was an arrow placed in Zháo's heart.   
All eyes turned to the shaking Shizukana. He fell on the ground. His breath was hard and jagged; he looked up at Syaoran, whose eyes were wide in disbelief.  
  
  
  
Shizukana killed him? But I was supposed to...  
Tokio and Sakuya rushed to Shizukana's side and helped him up, talking in some crazy Japanese language. Shizukana was shaking violently. Out of all the boys at the training centre back in Japan, Shizukana had been the quietest. He was usually seen reading or drawing and everyone knew he had never killed a man in his entire life; he probably didn't even have a bad word to say about anyone. That was one of the reasons he was sent to train. Now, he had killed his first man as well as the fact that it was supposed to be Syaoran's killing. Tears streaked down Shizukana's face as the boys lead him away.  
Syaoran stood over the dead body, he threw the sword down and walked away.  
  
Meilin came running out of the house and leapt into Satou arms, smiling and laughing as he twirled her around and fell over. Yelan walked out, a broad smile on her face too. She was trying hard to keep her joy of seeing her husband alive in. The Governor slowly walked up to Yelan as well, keeping his excitement in. He slowly placed a kiss on his wife's lips and she fell into his arms, laughing and crying and basically all emotional. The Governor stroked her hair and whispered things in her ear.   
  
Everyone was reunited with everyone else. Some women stood there calling for their husband or sons but they never showed up whereas the other women were emotional and crying tears of happiness at their husbands and sons being alive and well.  
Syaoran was nowhere to been seen.  
There was a big celebration that night. Music played as people danced and sang. Yue was sitting in his bedroom when Satou came dancing in, a goofy smile plastered on his face.  
"Hey Yue. Shouldn't you be dancing and getting drunk?" He asked, sitting beside his friend.  
"I think you're doing the drunkenness and the dancing for the both of us." Came Yue's reply.  
"Ah, that's cos I have reason to celebrate!" Satou jumped up and danced around. "I'm getting ma-rr-ied in the mooooooorning!" He sang as he danced.  
  
"Really?" Yue asked, his eyes wide.  
  
"Well, not in the morning but soon! To Meilin! Isn't that kakkoii?" He sat down and stared at Yue.  
  
"I'm happy for you Satou kun." Yue said, smiling.  
Satou got closer to Yue and his face got serious.   
  
"What about you and * Cough* Syaoran * Cough*"   
"I haven't seen him since Shizuakana killed Zháo."  
  
"You know, Sakura." Satou said, getting closer. "I've liked you for along time. Since I found out you weren't really a boy."   
  
Yue's eyes got wide and he tried to back off a little. Satou laughed.  
"Don't worry! I'm not attracted to you now! I have Meilin and she means everything to me! Besides, you have Syaoran, I know it seems hard with him now but it'll get better." He placed his hand on Yue's hot cheek and smiled kindly.   
  
"But there was something I've always wanted to do." He whispered.   
  
"Uh, uh, uh, um...er...um..." Yue mumbled as Satou leaned closer, he stopped and stared and the blushing Yue.  
  
"May I?" He asked, Yue was a bit taken aback by this. No boy ever asked permission to...you know!  
Yue nodded slightly and Satou moved his head forward and placed his lips on Yue's or Sakura's. ( I'm getting confused now! Ok, he's kissing Sakura.)   
Sakura's eyes widened as she felt his breath on her face, he moved his lips a little and pressed a little harder. His lips were soft but all through it Sakura couldn't help thinking about Syaoran.   
Satou pulled away after about a minute and smiled.   
"Thank you Yue...er...Sakura. I won't forget that you were my first love, whether you felt the same or not."  
  
  
This was a side of Satou Sakura had never seen, all romantic and stuff, speaking softly and smiling kindly. He wasn't genki Satou, he was soppy Satou!  
  
He hugged Sakura and winked before walking out to greet his fiancé.  
  
"Did you do it Satou?" Meilin asked.  
"Yes, my love, I did."   
Meilin bopped him on the head and smiled.  
  
"You better not get feelings for her again!" She commanded.  
  
"Don't worry Meilin, those went ages ago, when I met you." He kissed her and she patted his head.   
  
"You're so sweet!"   
Yue decided to go for a walk after the little meeting with Satou. He turned the corner into a dark alleyway and walked down it. It was completely deserted but there was a strange noise, like someone eating something crunchy. Yue could make out a figure in the shadows and froze.   
"Hello Yue." It spat at the terrified boy.   
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I think I'm gonna stop there! Hahahahahahaha I'll update as soon as I can! School's so hard! Moo, you better review this story ok? Otherwise I'll come and get you! No, really I will, we go to the same school! Hahahaha!  
  
Ja Ne  
  
Sakura Clover 


	10. Chapter 10 Adam's Apple

**Will probably be full of soppy crap. (I'm in one of those moods.)  
Chapter 10-Adam's apple  
"Hello Yue." It spat at the terrified boy. Yue squinted, trying to make out the shape of the person. It actually appeared to be two people, one was lower than the other but it was definitely two people.   
  
Yue inched closer.   
  
"Who are you?" He whispered.   
  
The person started to laugh, it was a deep laugh from the back of the person's throat and they laughed for a while.   
  
"I doubt that you know me." The person moved a bit towards Yue and the other person attached to this one moved and wriggled, it muffled something, like it was gagged.   
  
"But my friend here would be glad to introduce us." The person stepped out of the shadows, a boy struggling at the side of the now recognizable man.  
  
The man was about twenty one, with dark chestnut hair and azure eyes, he was wearing traditional Chinese robes and a smirk was on his face, in one hand was an apple and his free arm was wrapped around the boy's neck, making the boy crouch down a bit to stop the pain.   
  
"So Syaoran, are you gonna introduce us?" The man teased. Yue immediately recognised Syaoran, using all his strength to break free from the man's grasp. He was definitely not in the position to even make a sound.   
  
"Fine." The man scoffed. "I'll do the intro's." He shoved Syaoran onto the ground where he coughed and spluttered, Yue ran to his side.  
  
"I am Chen, Syaoran's best friend, well, I suppose I'm his former best friend now." He gave a little chuckle and Syaoran frowned, growling.   
  
"You bastard Chen!" He spat, still trying to gain his breath back. "What's going on?! Why did you attack me?"   
  
Chen just smiled and let out an exasperated sigh.  
  
"Really Syaoran, all these years, I would've thought it was obvious, always sneaking away, never there when Zháo came." Chen laughed and bowed.   
  
"I am the proud son of Zháo." He said and looked up.   
"I guess I'm not any more, seeing as he's DEAD! I just keep on losing people!" He walked up to Syaoran and bent down, he grabbed Syaoran's neck and shook him violently.   
  
"I'm just going to have to AVENGE him aren't I?"   
  
BANG!  
Chen stumbled over and held his hand to his head. Yue stood over him with a big block of wood.  
  
"Damn it! That was NOT nice!" Chen leapt up and dashed at Yue.   
Using the last of his strength, Syaoran jumped in between Yue and Chen.  
  
The last thing he remembered was Chen hitting him. And it hurt.  
*****  
  
Syaoran woke up with a start. His head ached and his neck wouldn't support him properly, he lay back down and looked around. He was in his room. He took in his surroundings and the events of what happened before he was knocked out came flooding back to him. Where was Chen? Was Yue Ok? He tried to get up but his arms failed him and he flopped back down onto his bed.  
  
A boy came rushing up to him as he tried his second attempt of getting up; the boy slowly pushed him back onto the bed.   
  
"You need to save your energy, just calm down."   
  
Syaoran heard the familiar Japanese accent, the boy that sometimes sounded more like a girl than a boy.   
  
"Yue." He breathed, his throat felt like razors as he tried to speak.   
"In the flesh." Yue replied softly, Syaoran smiled and laid back down with ease.   
"What happened to Chen?" He asked.  
  
"Well, when you fell unconscious, he tried to attack me, luckily your father was looking for you and came at just the right time, it was lucky really as-"  
  
Yue was stopped by Syaoran's finger on his lips. Yue blushed a deep red and turned away to put some cloth in the bowl of water beside him.   
  
Syaoran watched as Yue wet the cloth and dabbed it at his neck, there was an awkward silence as neither knew what to say. Syaoran coughed and spoke.   
  
"Yue," He began. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"   
  
"Uh, no, no, not at all." Yue muttered, still wiping the sweat and blood off Syaoran.   
Syaoran shifted on his bed, he stared up at Yue.   
  
"Are you sure Yue?" He asked, his eyes turning into the soft amber that made Sakura melt the last time she saw them.   
  
"I...I'm sure. Heh Heh..." Yue still wiped at the same spot over and over, he was nervous as hell. He was less than a few centimetres from the guy 'he' was head over heels on love with and who had also beaten the living crap out of him. Of course, there was no reason to be nervous.  
Syaoran sighed and moved his head onto Yue's lap. Yue started at this sudden move but didn't make any attempt to get Syaoran off. His eyes were half closed and he looked kind of kawaii.  
Syaoran breathed in deeply and smiled.   
"You smell good." He whispered.   
Yue was a tomato now. He mumbled something and tried to shift his position, this was really weird. Did he know that Yue was Sakura? What if he didn't?!  
  
Syaoran opened his eyes and looked up at Yue.   
  
"You know," He said. "You're the only boy I know without an Adam's apple."   
  
Yue blinked.   
I think I've just been found out. He thought.   
"Let down your hair?" Syaoran asked with little puppy dog eyes, making Yue melt.   
He slowly untied his hair and let it fall over his face. Yue immediately became Sakura. Syaoran's smile grew wider.   
"Hello Sakura." He said.   
  
"Uh, hello Syaoran." Sakura gulped.  
"How are you?" His strength was returning and he shuffled a bit in Sakura's lap.  
  
"Uh, I'm fine."   
  
Syaoran sat up and looked at Sakura, he traced his finger down her cheek and onto her back, he pressed down near the top of her back and she flinched.   
  
"From where I hit you?" He asked, his eyes and voice full of concern. Sakura nodded.   
  
"Can I see it?"   
She turned around and he helped her to lift up her shirt, he gasped as he saw her skin.   
Near her shoulder blade, there was a big purple bruise, it was all along the right side of her back and she jumped when he stroked it.   
  
"Oh my God." He whispered, his voice becoming hoarse.   
  
Sakura slipped her shirt back down over her back and turned around, forcing a smile. See could see Syaoran was trying desperately to hold back the tears that were welling up in his eyes.   
  
"It's Ok Syaoran." She reassured, putting her hand in his shoulder.   
  
"I had it coming, you didn't know." It wasn't working, his head was hung low and little hiccups peeped up from time to time.   
  
Sakura stared at Syaoran for a while. She inched closer and pressed her head against his chest. He jumped a bit as she wrapped her arms around his neck, he slowly picked up his hands and put them clumsily around her waist, after a while, he drew her in closer and held her.   
They sat there, in each other's arms for a few minutes before Sakura pulled away.   
"There, do you feel better?" She asked. He nodded and grinned.   
  
"You gaki." She laughed and went to pick up the bowl.   
  
"He grabbed her hand and pulled her so close, their noses were almost touching. He breath was hard and fast.   
"Say that again." He whispered. "And I'll kiss you."   
Sakura stared at him straight in the eyes.  
"Gaki." She said, so softly that Syaoran could just about hear him.   
Syaoran smile a REALLY broad, cute lil' pretty boy smile and leaned into Sakura before she could even blink.   
His lips were softer than she had imagined.   
Even Satou's kiss wasn't as good as this! Sakura closed her eyes and leaned into him as well, returning the kiss. She could hear his heart beat again. It sounded like a humming bird.  
  
Babumpbabumpbabumpbaumpbabumpbabump  
They parted after about two minutes and stared at each other. Syaoran was blushing harder than Sakura was.   
  
"Uh, uh, um, uh, well, uh, um..." He stuttered and looked down again.   
  
"Uh, well, I better go...You need to get your strength back." Sakura said and started to get up.   
  
Syaoran's head immediately shot up and he stood up too.  
  
"Y-you can't go!" He whined. Sakura laughed and went to leave when she suddenly heard Syaoran let out a cry of pain and sort of fall to the floor. She turned around to see him wriggling on the floor in a dramatic sort of way, whining and groaning. Sakura knelt down and stared at him. He looked up and gave her a sweet, innocent, I'm-in-fake-pain look. She sighed at him.  
"I hurt my hand." He said, lifting his hand up for Sakura to see. It was perfectly fine, just a bit red where he had hit it with his other hand.   
  
"Gaki." She said as she helped him into bed. As she stood up, he grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the bed with him, wrapping his arms around her.   
  
Sakura blinked and wriggled a bit.   
  
"I'm sleepy now..." Syaoran sighed and closed his eyes.   
  
Sakura smiled and closed her eyes too.   
And together they fell asleep.  
I'm in a SERIOUS fluffy mood today! I can't believe I wrote that! I'm not a fluffy person. I think I made Syaoran seem kinda weak! I got sooo many reviews! I checked my email a few hours after I put the story up and all of them were reviews! I nearly fell off my chair!   
Ok, who votes that I should do an Inu Yasha fan fic after this? Place your bets now! Only a few more chapters to go! (I'm running out of plot, hence the fluffiness!)   
  
Ja Ne  
  
Sakura Clover 


	11. Chapter 11 Meilin's Wedding

Chapter 11-Meilin's Wedding  
  
Syaoran woke up in the early hours of the morning. He leaned over to his left were he found Sakura sleeping. Thoughts of last night came flooding back to him and he smiled.  
  
Sakura was in a deep sleep, her mouth was open a little and some drool was coming out of it onto the pillow. (What?! Everybody always sleeps so perfectly! So I'm making Sakura not so perfect! Hah!) Syaoran smiled and gently shook her, she groaned and rolled away from him, he laughed and shook her harder. He got a massive smack to the nose. Only when she heard him yelling in pain, she woke up.  
  
"Syaoran! Are you okay?" She asked, full of concern.  
  
Syaoran pointed to his now inflated and red nose, Sakura laughed nervously.  
  
"I'm guessing that was me." She said.  
  
"There's no one else here and I'm not one to go around slapping myself on the nose!" He yelled. Sakura laughed and for some reason, he couldn't help but calm down and laugh as well.  
  
They got out of Syaoran's bed and got dressed, Syaoran with his eyes closed.  
  
Syaoran and Yue stepped out of Syaoran's house, it was hot and people were preparing for Meilin's wedding when she and Satou had decided to have it in the afternoon. Satou spotted Yue and ran up to him.  
  
"Yue kun!" He said, hugging the uncomfortable Yue. "Isn't it sooo kakkoii? We're getting married!" He danced around a bit and patted Syaoran on the shoulder. "I hope you'll take care of her, Satou." Syaoran said, smiling broadly.  
  
"Hahahahahha, if it's anyone who needs protecting, it'll be me! Have you tried her Chow Mein?"  
  
"SATOUUUUUU!"  
  
Satou gulped and turned around, Meilin was standing there, fuming, but smiling. Satou sweat-dropped and walked up to his fiancé.  
  
" Didn't you forget to mention how BAD your yakitori is?!" Meilin said sarcastically. Satou hung his head and nodded.  
  
"Yes ma'am, I make terrible yakitori." He glanced up at Meilin. "But what you lack in cooking, you make up in looks and intelligence."  
  
Meilin blushed and started dragging her husband-to-be away, whispering in his ear. Yue and Syaoran stood there, dumbfounded.  
  
"That was slick." Syaoran said, gaping after his cousin and her crazy boyfriend.  
  
"Uh huh." Yue said quietly.  
***(Let's just skip the whole day shall we?)***  
  
Everybody was at Meilin's wedding, the Governor, Yelan, the whole troop of Japanese boys and the villagers. It was going to be a joint wedding, Meilin's best friend, Li Xiayou (I know no Chinese names! Sorry if it's wrong!) was getting married as well, to the carpenter's son, Chien Qui.  
  
It was a lovely afternoon, the sun was beginning to set and it was just the right temperature, flowers bloomed everywhere and everyone whispered at how lucky the two couples were.  
  
Yue stood near the back with Syaoran, as Meilin and Satou exchanged wedding vows, Syaoran gripped Yue's hand.  
  
Meilin was dressed in an amazing traditional Chinese dress, it was a dark blue with gold trimmings and designs all around it, Satou was dressed in a light blue and white kimono and both of them looked like royalty.  
  
The party began shortly after dark, lights glimmered and little animals seeking the warm glow fluttered around. Everyone was dancing, Meilin was dancing with Syaoran, much to Satou's disappointed, so he started dancing with Yue, much to Meilin's annoyance. So after a small, playful fight, Meilin ended up dancing with Satou, much to both of their pleasures.  
  
Yue was sitting down, drinking some tea, when he heard the rustling in the bushes. He casually glanced to the sound and noticed someone crouching down. As Yue went to stand up, the person leapt out at him, grabbing Yue by the neck. All celebration had stopped as some men tried to get the man off of Yue but the man refused to let anyone near.  
  
"One more move, and I'll slit her throat." He roared.  
  
Everyone stopped at the comment. Did he say 'her'? Maybe the man was crazy.  
  
Syaoran burst out from the crowds and stopped.  
  
"Chen!" He yelled as his disbelieving eyes moved onto Yue.  
  
Yelan walked up to her son and he turned around, grabbing her robes.  
  
"How did he get here?!" He demanded. "I thought he was dead!"  
  
Yelan looked at her son, the Governor came running up to his family.  
  
"He escaped?" The Governor asked, puffed out from the running. Syaoran let go of his mother and stared at the Governor.  
  
"Escaped? ESCAPED?! I THOUGH YOU KILLED HIM!"  
  
"Well. We couldn't just kill him, so we imprisoned him." Came the nervous reply.  
  
"You mean to tell me." Syaoran said, anger in his voice. "That even though we killed a whole gang of men, you can't kill the ringleader's son!"  
  
The Governor was about to reply when Chen laughed.  
  
"Hahahahahahha! Your eyes deceive you!" He grabbed Yue's hair. "I do believe this isn't a man!"  
  
Satou bit his lip, Syaoran turned towards Chen and Chen ripped out Yue's hair band and, with a struggle, managed to untie the bindings.  
  
Everybody gasped as Yue disappeared and Sakura stood there, speechless.  
  
Suddenly, Chen stopped dead and fell over. Behind him was Tokio, a knife in his hand, covered in blood.  
  
"Asshole." He said and walked off.  
  
All eyes again turned to the girl; Syaoran ran up to her and put his jacket around her shoulders. She looked up at him, tears streaking down her face.  
  
"I'm sorry." She whispered as he led her away from the gawping villagers.  
  
When Sakura was asleep, The Governor, Yelan, Syaoran, Meilin and the Japanese boys sat in the Governor's house. Everything was silent until the Governor coughed.  
  
"Er, how many people knew about this?" He asked, quite nervous.  
  
Meilin slowly raised her arm, as well as Satou, Yelan also raised her hand. Then Syaoran, with a frown on his faced, shot his hand up, higher than the rest.  
  
"Er, well, this is a very strange turn of events, er, Tokio, back in Japan, what would you do?"  
  
Tokio's face turned grave and he looked down.  
  
"It is, depending on the circumstance, we would kill the person in question."  
  
Syaoran slammed his fist on the ground and stood up, faster than a bullet.  
  
"No! This isn't Japan!" He turned to his father. His eyes pleading. "Please, don't kill her."  
  
His father gave away no emotion; Syaoran was struggling to see what his father was thinking.  
  
Tokio nodded and looked up.  
  
"He's right, this isn't Japan." He went to stand up. "This is your decision Governor."  
  
The Governor nodded slightly and the boys and Meilin departed, leaving Yelan and Syaoran left.  
  
"Father." He started but the Governor raised his hand to silence his son.  
  
"Leave."  
  
Syaoran stared down and slowly walked out, he stopped by the door and kicked it hard, leaving a big hole on the bottom of the door. Yelan gave him a wary look and Syaoran left.  
  
The Governor turned to his wife.  
  
"How did you know?" He asked, shocked.  
  
Yelan shrugged and poured some tea.  
  
"I'm a woman, I know these things."  
Da-duuuuuuuum! Mwaahaha cliffhangers are fun! Bad time to stop it though ne? I think that the next chapter will be the last. Inu Yasha fic next! Yaaaaay. I'm trying to buy the movie over the net, but it's so hard! Protesting is fun! But now I have a whole bunch of detentions. Hmpf! Stupid school! I'll update a lot faster, especially seeing as this is a cliffy and I'm almost done! Could someone give me some Chinese names please, as you can see, I don't know any!  
  
Ja Ne  
  
Sakura Clover 


	12. Chapter 12 Always redone

Chapter 12- Always (redone.)  
  
Sakura woke up with a start. She looked around and found herself in The Governor's house; she could hear whispers coming from the room next to her.  
  
"Er, how many people knew about this?"  
Silence.  
"Er, well, this is a very strange turn of events, er, Tokio, back in Japan, what would you do?"  
  
"It is, depending on the circumstances, we would kill the person in question."  
Sakura gasped and felt tears well up in her eyes.  
  
'They're going to kill me?'  
  
She slumped back down on the bed and buried her face in the pillow. She could hear shouts coming from the other room, then she heard the door open and it went silent.  
  
After a few minutes, Sakura heard the door open softly. Feet slowly shuffled to the side of her bed and she felt someone sitting down next to her. Their breathing was deep and it seemed like they had been crying or something.  
  
"Sakura." Syaoran breathed softly.  
  
Sakura opened her eyes and looked up at Syaoran. His eyes were a little red and the usual warm amber was gone. His eyes looked empty now.  
  
"I heard what they said." Sakura said blankly.  
  
Syaoran hung his head and wiped his nose. Then he looked up at her, determination filling his eyes.  
  
"We'll run away!" He said. " We can go in the night!"  
  
He grabbed Sakura's wrist and attempted to pull her up, but she refused to move. Syaoran knelt down beside her.  
  
"Sakura, come on." He begged. She sat there and looked up at him.  
  
"I, I can't Syaoran." She said weakly.  
  
"Please." "His voice was full of desperation.  
  
"No Syaoran." She said firmly. "I broke the law, I must suffer the consequences."  
  
Syaoran's eyes started to fill with tears and he bowed his head, putting it on Sakura's lap.  
  
She stroked his hair and whispered soothing things to him as he wept freely for the first time since Sakura had met him.  
  
Finally, he lifted his head and looked Sakura straight in the eyes. He took her into a big hug.  
  
"I'll never leave you Sakura." He whispered as she returned the hug.  
  
"I know Syaoran." She replied.  
  
And they stayed like that for hours, until two men came to take Sakura away.  
  
Still with Syaoran's hand in hers, they walked to the town centre. After that, Syaoran had to leave her.  
  
The Governor looked stiff as he addressed the town.  
  
"My fellow villagers, today we are to condemn a girl who has impersonated a man. We have discussed for hours on end and a conclusion has been made."  
  
He looked sadly at his son and Syaoran's eyes widened.  
  
"She must face the penalty of death."  
  
A silence swept over the whole village. All eyes turned toward Sakura, who stood alone in the middle of everyone. No emotion showed on her face as The Governor announced her punishment. She looked at Satou, his eyes were full of tears, and so were all the Japanese boy's eyes. Meilin was weeping silently, Yelan stood proud as usual but she had bags under her eyes. She looked at Sakura and nodded, showing Sakura how proud she was of her. The Governor was pale faced and it looked like he hadn't shaved for days. Syaoran was whiter than anyone, tears were flowing down his face and he opened his mouth to say something. Sakura shook her head and he closed his mouth.  
  
"We will give you a few moments to say your goodbyes." The Governor stated, breaking the silence.  
****  
  
Everyone was quiet as they all stood in the middle of the Village.  
  
Sakura had said goodbye to all her dearest friends, Syaoran stood there, refusing to talk to her.  
  
She stepped up onto a big platform of wood that had been placed there as she was talking with her friends.  
  
A man stood behind her with her sword in his hands, he was sharpening it.  
  
Sakura stood tall and proud as The Governor asked her if she wanted to say anything.  
  
"I'm sorry I tried to be a man. I could've gone down another path, I could still be in Japan, but I chose this path and I'm glad, I'm glad I met you all."  
  
The Governor was looking even rougher than a few minutes ago. Sakura knew this was hard on him, he was a good man but the law had to be obeyed.  
  
"Don't worry Governor." Sakura said, smiling. "It's not your fault."  
  
He smiled weakly as the man behind Sakura poised the sword.  
  
Syaoran came running out of the crowds, yelling.  
  
"Sakura! Sakura! Please don't go! I love you!" He shouted, running towards the platform.  
  
"I love you too Syaoran! Always!" She shouted back. " Don't be sad!"  
As Syaoran reached the steps of the platform, he saw Sakura's eyes widen. He gasped as he saw the blade pass straight through her chest. He stopped half way up the steps and watched as the bright emerald of Sakura's eyes dimmed, her face was pale and blood trickled down onto the floor. The man took the blade out in one motion and Sakura dropped to the floor, pale and motionless.  
  
Syaoran ran straight up to her, he caught her and he fell over onto the hard wooden floor. He stroked her face, it was cold, her eyes were still wide open but all life had vanished from them. Syaoran pressed his face against her dead body and cried.  
  
Everyone was silent as he cried into his beloved Cherry Blossom. He would never let her go. Never.  
  
*****  
  
The Governor stepped into his son's room. Two years had passed. Sakura's body had been taken back to Japan and Syaoran was finger a purple and gold handkerchief he had found in Sakura's kimono sleeve.  
  
"Syaoran, you know we've been talking about marriage lately." His father started. Syaoran turned and growled. The Governor backed out.  
  
*****(The Bit I've redone)  
  
Syaoran died in his sleep. He was eighty-four years old and was still a bachelor when he passed on. He had been ill for a couple of weeks and everyone could see he was going to die. Satou, who had stayed in the village with Meilin instead of going back to Japan, had stayed by Syaoran's bedside and said that Syaoran had whispered Sakura's name with his last breath. They buried him in the wheat fields.  
  
*****Modern Day Tokyo*****  
  
Xiao Lang threw the tennis ball up into the air; it came back down with a thud in his small hands. Five-year-old Xiao Lang was on a trip with his parents to Tokyo, his Father was some sort of Chinese representative and they often made trips around the world. Xiao Lang was nearly always lonely, but he never showed it, his parents had too much to worry about to hear about how lonely he was. He sat in the middle of a grassy park, playing by himself.  
  
Xiao Lang also had another secret, he'd never told a living soul about it, not even his favourite teddy bear. Sometimes, at least twice a month, he'd have strange dreams. He dreamt that he was a boy living in Ancient China; the boy resembled him quite a lot, chocolate brown hair and cold amber eyes. The boy he dreamt about was lonely too, his village was under attack from a murderous mob and his father, the Governor, was dropping hints about him getting married. But one day, the boy met a girl and they fell in love, even though it was difficult as she had some sort of hidden identity. Sometimes, if Xiao Lang was having a bad day, he'd have nightmares of the girl dying and he'd wake up with a start, sweating and crying, like the dream had been real.  
  
Xiao Lang sighed and tossed the ball into the air again. Dreams weren't real, no matter how real they seem. As he went to catch it, it bounced off the palm of his hand and went rolling to the other side of the park.  
  
The ball landed near a pair of white shoes.  
  
Xiao Lang ran after the ball and knelt down to pick it up. He stood up and came face to face with a girl. She was around the same age as him, maybe a little younger and she giggled as his eyes widened.  
She looked almost exactly the same as the girl in his dreams.  
  
Xiao Lang felt his cheeks burning up and he muttered a sorry, the girl giggled again.  
  
"You look lonely ne?" She said.  
  
Xiao Lang nodded slightly.  
  
"Well.why don't you come play with me? I'm by myself too so I could use some company!"  
  
Xiao Lang looked up at the girl, she had short auburn hair with two bangs at the front on either side and her eyes were a lively emerald green, Xiao Lang stared at her for a few seconds. She noticed him staring and cocked her head to the side.  
  
"What are you staring at?" She asked playfully.  
  
"Uh, uh, n.nothing!" Xiao Lang mumbled, averting his eyes again.  
  
The girl mover closer to Xiao Lang and he blushed a deep red, she looked him up and down and put her finger on her chin.  
  
"You look familiar." She stated, after a few minutes of contemplating. "Have I met you before?"  
  
"I-I-I." Xiao Lang stuttered.  
  
The girl suddenly clapped her hands together and squealed.  
  
"You look like the boy in my dreams!" She said, jumping up and down.  
  
Xiao Lang stared at her. Did she have the same dreams as him? She looked so much like the girl in his dreams.  
  
The girl reached out her hand.  
  
"I'm Ying Fa!" She said, Xiao Lang took her hand and shook it.  
  
"Xiao Lang." He said.  
"Teehee, my name's not exactly Ying Fa! It's the Chinese version!" She giggled excitedly.  
  
"Wha?" Xiao Lang was getting pretty confused with this crazy girl.  
  
"Well.I've noticed that you're Chinese! And daddy taught me my name in Chinese! Cool ne? Soooo, I thought it would be easier if you called me by my Chinese name as you're Chinese!"  
  
It took Xiao Lang a few moments to process all that information as Ying Fa had a habit of talking VERY fast. He blinked a few times and nodded.  
  
"So what's your real name?" He asked, trying to make conversation, he wasn't very good around people, especially mad, sugar-high girls who looked like people from his dreams.  
  
"My name is Sakura!" She yelled, dancing around Xiao Lang. She stopped and smiled at him.  
  
"You wanna come play with me?"  
  
For the first time in years, Xiao Lang genuinely smiled; he nodded as Ying Fa grabbed his hand and led him away to the sand box.  
He didn't know exactly who she was, but he was really starting to like her.  
***OWARI***  
  
There! And I'm NOT doing another ending! So if you don't get this one.TOUGH! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I hope you understand this ending as my fingers hurt again! If you understand it, either I'm a bad writer, or you're crappy readers!  
  
-Ducks from the flying rotten tomatoes-  
  
Okay Okay, I'm a bad writer! IS THAT SO WRONG?! I still need to think of an Inu Yasha plot. Ideas anyone? Please! I'm desperate! Anyway, constructive criticism-yes Mean horrible things-nooooo. Ok? Until next time.  
  
Ja Ne!  
  
Sakura Clover ^.^  
  
. 


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